Maintenance

Cheater Wrench Makes Easy Work of Tightly Torqued Wheel Nuts

DT Industries

The Cheater Wrench from DT Industries allows anyone driving a truck or other heavy-duty vehicle to remove their lug nuts and change their own tires. The Cheater Wrench is a torque-multiplying tool with a 78:1 turn ratio, making it easy to overcome the recommended 500 or so foot-pounds to which wheel lug nuts are supposed to be tightened.

DT Industries says with the tool, truckers can change their own tires at roadside rather than waiting for tire repair truck, which can take several hours and cost a lot of money.

Carson Woolley, co-founder of DT Industries and a working driver, says he found tire problems incredibly frustrating. "For me, time was money," he says. "Blown tires took away a lot of time and cost hundreds of dollars on top of that."

Woolley says that after buying a similar product that was available only from an online auction site, he formed a partnership and had the tools manufactured under the brand name, Cheater Wrench, and began marketing the tool online.

It works the same way a transmission works to move heavy loads. With a 78:1 gear reduction, it takes 78 revolutions of the handle to turn the nut once. That makes it easy to loosen even properly torqued wheel nuts.

Truckinginfo.com reminds users that changing tires at roadside can be a very dangerous practice. Always find a safe and level location, follow proper procedures and take all safety precautions when jacking the truck and changing the tire, including verifying the proper torque required for retightening the lug nuts. As per recommendations of the Technology and Maintenance Council (TMC) of the American Trucking Associations, wheel nuts must always be retorqued to the proper settings using a calibrated torque wrench after 50 to 100 miles. Check with manufacturer for proper torque ratings and procedures.